Is the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation Excluding HBCU’s From Research?

It's  a shame the the American Diabetes Association refuses to award  research grants to HBCU's, when 3.7 Million African American have  Diabetes. I always thought they were a good organization, until I dug  deep into their finances.  Check out the article posted in the Atlanta Post  

Is the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation Excluding HBCU’s From Research?

by L.N. Rock

Source: Atlanta Post 

According to the American Diabetes Association,  African Americans are disproportionately affected by diabetes as 3.7  million or 14.7 percent of all African Americans aged 20 years or older  have diabetes. In addition:

-African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to have diabetes as non Hispanic whites

-25 percent of African Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 have diabetes.

-1 in 4 African American women over 55 years of age has diabetes.

The  American Diabetes Association (the Association) is a not-for-profit  voluntary health agency that works to prevent and cure diabetes and to  improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. In October 1994,  the Association’s Board of Directors established the American Diabetes  Association Research Foundation, Inc. (the Foundation), as a subsidiary  of the Association. The objective of the Foundation is to fund  diabetes-related research leading to the prevention and cure of  diabetes, the prevention and cure of the complications of diabetes, and  new and improved therapies for individuals affected by diabetes.

Get  this, the Foundation is exempt from income taxes under Section  501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and charitable  contributions to the Foundation qualify for charitable tax deductions as  described in the code. The Foundation has been classified as an  organization that is not a private foundation under Section 509(a) of  the code. Even though they appear to have a bias against HBCU’s and  black researchers. More on this later…

Research grants awarded by  the Foundation generally extend over a period of one to three years,  subject to renewal on an annual basis.

Upon investigation and  review of the financial reports and records, this writer has found that  Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been totally left out  of the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation, Inc award  process as selected grantees.

Compared to the general population,  African American researchers and HBCU’s are not receiving grant research  dollars from the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation.

As an example, the Foundation provided over $33 million in research grants in 2010 without one gong to a HBCU. If one looks at their annual reports for ADA 2009 Research Foundation Financials and 2009 IRS Form 990 you will see the same challenge  in  the 2008 IRS Form 990, (check out the grantee  database for information on ADA-funded research grant awardees), 2007 IRS Form 990  and 2006 IRS Form 990, no black awardees, no HBCU's researchers. Read the full article, Is the American Diabetes Association Research Foundation Excluding HBCU’s From Research? 

L. N. Rock is a management consultant, Democratic strategist, and  2008 credentialed blogger at the Democratic National Convention. He  blogs at African American Pundit

Justice Department Probe of Wells Fargo - Did NAACP Get "Kick Backs" from Wells fargo?

Well look at this, According to published reports, Wells Fargo  who happens to be the NAACP's favorite predatory lender, donor and “Lead Sponsor” of the NAACP’s 101st annual convention is the Target Of Justice Department Probe.

Get this, The NAACP which appeared to get "promotional kick back money" after mysteriously dropping it's lawsuit against Wells Fargo, the nation's largest home mortgage lender, for allegedly preying upon African American borrowers during the housing bubble and steering them into high-cost subprime loans.

This is not the first bad news for the NAACP's lead sponsor, Wells Fargo.

As reported by Faye Anderson over at Anderson at Large, On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board ordered Wells Fargo to pay an $85 million fine for steering borrowers with good credit into subprime loans.

The order reads:

The $85 million civil money penalty is the largest the Board has assessed in a consumer-protection enforcement action and is the first formal enforcement action taken by a federal bank regulatory agency to address alleged steering of borrowers into high-cost, subprime loans. […]
The order addresses allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel steered borrowers who were potentially eligible for prime interest rate loans into loans at higher, subprime interest rates, resulting in greater costs to borrowers. The order also addresses separate allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel falsified information about borrowers’ incomes to make it appear that the borrowers qualified for loans when they would not have qualified based on their actual incomes.

There is more... In 2007, the NAACP filed a class action lawsuit against 15 of the nation’s largest subprime lenders for “systematic, institutionalized racism in sub-prime home mortgage lending.”

One of the defendants included Wells Fargo Bank & Company.

As Faye Anderson reported in her blog post dated April 28, 2010, "The NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous was an outspoken critic of Wells Fargo. So you can imagine my surprise when earlier this month, I read the NAACP dropped its lawsuit against the predatory lender." So what did the NAACP get? As Citizen Journalist Faye Anderson ask in the same article.

Easy answer, that the Justice Department needs to probe. The NAACP in my humble observations accepted Wells Fargo’s tainted money as a "kick-back" for dropping the lawsuit.

AAP says: "Forget all the black celebrities that kiss the NAACP's ring in order to get an Image Award. Average black Americans who are hurting and facing depression-like unemployment levels have questioned for years the integrity and credibility of the National office of the NAACP.





Average black Americans have wondered for years if the NAACP represented them of the interest of big banks and corporate kickbacks. Well again, here is the smoking gun. Let's hope the Justice Department probe includes the "corporate kickbacks" from Wells Fargo to the national office of the NAACP."

The Root (WAPO) and The Grio (NBC) Moving to Control Black American Politics

Yes, I said it. And yes, I am wondering out loud, if Corporate black blogs like The Root and The Grio are working to control black political thought in America?





AAP says: "Move over grassroots black political bloggers, NBC and The Washington Post have hatched a scheme to take over black political thought over the internet. They are like ATT taking over the smaller telephone companies. They are buying co-opting as many black bloggers as possible, and unfortunately it just may be working."  

Now the question is, on the immediate political front, whether both of these corporate media giants (WaPo and NBC) are doing nothing more than being under-cover operatives for getting President Barack Obama elected in 2012?

As I said in my earlier post, It get's under my black skin, that so-called black bloggers at (white controlled) corporate black blogs like The Root, owned by the Washington Post, and the The Grio, owned by NBC, are nothing more than a group of organized Obama loyalist who seem to never report on how blacks will lose $194 billion in wealth through 2012, or how the housing crisis continues to hits blacks the hardest and how President Obama (as Russell Simmons recently pointed out in his Open Letter To President Barack Obama) has all but ignored the plight of black America.  

I remember when I learned that NBC would launch a African American news site
and The Washington Post was planning to launch 'The Root', my gut reaction was, "there they go, white corporate America moving to "takeover" black political and social opinion over the internet."

I knew that folks at the Washington Post and NBC were getting concerned that black bloggers groups like the afrospear/afrosphere were getting too organized. I also felt in my gut that white media outlets, may have even sent its own operatives into the afrospear/afrosphere group to spread discontent. 

As I noted previously on this blog, there was a time when a group of black bloggers called the afrospear/afrosphere began to organize and became a force in the black America.

Unfortunately, the Afrospear/Afrosphere has seemed to 'step aside' as a group, and allow corporate black blogs like the Washington Post's The Root (owned by the Washington Post Company through its online subsidiary, Washington Post-Newsweek Interactive) and NBC's The Grio, to jump in feet first, and act as though they are the voice of on-line Black America. 

I guess the with big bucks from The Washngton Post and NBC, (The Root and The Grio) have just about become campaign organizations for President Obama's 2012 Campaign. Candidly, Both of these black corporate blogs or so-called black news outlets should be required to file with the Federal Election authorities as part of the Obama organization.

Will The Root and The Grio become the electronic voice of Black America?  I don't think so... the voice of the black blogging community continues to grow. It will take more than NBC and The Washington Post to control black political thought in this country... But they sure are trying...

Cross Posted on black news junkie.com, African American Political Opinion, MYDD, and Black Accountability Project

Al Sharpton is not “the president” of Black America

OMG, now the folks at Politico.com are saying that Al Sharpton is emerging as “the president” of black America. Read more at politico.com

Yes, there is a lot of conversation on the internet about Al Sharpton and Barack Obama. The conversation is about how President Obama was in New York last night supporting Al Sharpton‎.  Candidly, I don't get how President Obama is making a pitch to Al Sharpton's Group‎ when he knows full well about Al Sharpton's history, particularly with regards to his lack of respect for black women. As an example, Al Sharpton and the NAACP Support Dunbar Village Rapists. Yes, just in case you never heard about Dunbar Village,

Here are the basics of the story from Black America Web:

“The incident occurred at a public housing project called Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Florida.“After dark on June 18, the police say, as many as 10 armed assailants repeatedly raped a Haitian immigrant in her apartment complex at Dunbar Village … They took cell phone pictures of their acts. They burned the woman’s skin and (her 12-year-old son’s) eyes with cleaning fluid, forced them to lie naked together in the bathtub, hit them with a broom and a gun and threatened to set them on fire.”

As despicable as that sounds, it wasn’t the worst of it. The worst of it was when these vermin, according to Times writer Amy Goodnough, “forc(ed) (the woman) to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.”

Now we learn that the President of the United States is supporting, Al Sharpton, you know Al Shapton  the same guy who supported the Dunbar Village rapists. The blog, What About Our Daughters covered this issue a number of years ago. I guess our President supports the madness of Al Sharpton. Read more on the untold details of horror at Dunbar Village.

Maybe the President does not remember Al Sharpton, the NAACP, and Dunbar Village like black and other progressive bloggers do.  We remember how Al Sharpton defended the scum bags who  “forc(ed) (the woman) to perform oral sex on her 12-year-old son.”

If that is the type of people the President wants to hang out with, fine. It's not the type of person I would want near me. I hope Obama is not courting black votes with Sharpton as some reports are saying.

Oh, and by the way, politico.com, Al Sharpton (the supporter of rapist) is no emerging "president” of black America.  Black America has the same President as white America, "President Barack Obama." It looks like politico.com needs black political writers/reporters.

Cross posted on black news junkie.com and African American Pundit

Billey Joe Johnson and 21st Century Mississippi Justice

Why are black bloggers, the afrospear, the afrosphere, black news outlets, black media, Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, Progressive White Bloggers, Black Journalist, Black Investigative Reporters, Old School Civil Rights Icons, Black Activist, The National office of the NAACP and yes, major news outlets not talking about or investigating the death of  Billey Joe Johnson, Jr.? 

Why is the U.S. Department of justice not investigating this 21st century Civil Rights Crime or better yet, human rights crime? Maybe if the family of Billey Joe Johnson had an open casket, and Jet Magazine had a copy of the photo in its magazine people would have been outraged. Yes, maybe a public funeral service with an open casket to show the world the brutality of the killing would have worked. But that didn't happen, there was not tens of thousands attending Billey Joe Johnson's funeral or viewing his casket and images of his mutilated body were not published in black magazines, black blogs and black newspapers. No, no rallying black support and white sympathy across the US for Billey Joe Johnson.

OK, well act like this picture is a picture of Billey Joe Johnson and not Emitt Till. But it's not 1955, this happened, yes, again in Mississippi in 2009. 


















This gruesome photo of Emmett Till helped spark the civil rights movement. It demonstrated the brutality of southern violence towards African-Americans, and created outrage across the nation. Emmett's mother, Mamie, insisted at his funeral that he be given an open-casket, so others could see what they had done to her boy.
Photo Courtesy of the Chicago Defender


Today in Lucedale, Mississippi, hundreds of concerned citizens and community advocates rallied at the George County Courthouse to echo calls for the Department of Justice to bring charges in the death of Billey Joe Johnson, Jr. 

You remember the case of Billey Joe Johnson, Jr. REWIND  Feb 13, 2009, I reported about the case of Billy Joe Johnson on this blog. Here is what I reported back in 2009:

Billy Joe Johnson - A Foul Play? The Killing of Billy Joe Johnson in Mississippi

UPDATE: The Killing of Billey Joe Johnson in Mississippi

You remember the story about Billy Joe Johnson, star running back for George County High, Mississippi, who died on a December morning in deep Mississippi alleged by a "self-inflicted" gunshot wound during a traffic stop.

As reported by NCAA Foot Ball Fan House Billy Joe Johnson was considered one of the top high school football recruits in Mississippi, as well as the country, until his shocking death early Monday morning.

Johnson, hailing from Jackson, Miss., rushed for more than 1,500 yards his last season, totaling over 4,000 for his career, and received scholarship offers from a number of major schools including Alabama, LSU and Mississippi as a top-rated recruit by both Scout and Rivals.

Johnson died of a (possibly self-inflicted) gun wound early Monday after being pulled by a sheriff's deputy. (UPDATE: The NCAAP, in an independent investigation, has ruled out suicide as the cause of death.)

It's not clear why 17-year-old Billey Joe Johnson was stopped in Lucedale, but authorities say the junior tailback shot himself with a shotgun after the deputy walked back to the patrol car to run a license check.

"The deputy was sitting in his patrol vehicle ... when he heard a gunshot and saw the victim laying on the ground by the driver's side door of the vehicle that Johnson was driving. A shotgun was lying on the victim," according to a statement from the George County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities would not immediately say whether they believed the shooting was a suicide or an accident.

The last portion of that quote is particularly perplexing, because it is hard to believe that Johnson would have attempted to pull a shotgun on police officers ...although equally confounding is the notion that Johnson would kill himself at what, according to all current reports, appears to be a basic traffic stop.

Nothing is ever certain, but this story appears to be so odd, at least in the manner of death, that it would be even more shocking if further details didn't at least emerge as to why the young man apparently panicked and pulled a gun that resulted in the tragic and early end to his life. More MORE

Many in the black community suspect foul play.



Billey Joe Johnson Sr. has a difficult time accepting the police department’s explanation of his son’s death. “They must have tortured my baby,” he says.

(Dan Wetzel/Yahoo! Sports)

As reported by yahoo sports local authorities stopped Billey Joe for a traffic violation on the morning of Dec. 8, and they say the truck is simply the site of a terrible tragedy. But to the elder Johnson, it’s a crime scene. Nearly two months later, only one fact is certain: Instead of running out of George County as a football hero, Billey Joe was buried beneath it at the age of 17.

---

The George County Sheriff’s Department claims that on that fateful morning, Billey Joe attempted to break into the home of an on-again, off-again girlfriend in the nearby city of Lucedale. According to the sheriff’s department, he left the scene and ran a red light at 5:34 a.m. After a 1½-mile pursuit, Billey Joe got out of his truck, met sheriff’s deputy Joe Sullivan and handed over his license. Then Billey Joe returned to his truck, put a 12-gauge shotgun he used to target deer to his head and committed suicide. It was 5:40 a.m.

Sullivan’s patrol car was not equipped with a camera, and his is the only account of the event. Billey Joe’s friends and family don’t believe the story.

Billey Joe was black. Sullivan is white. The case, as such, is shrouded by race in this small community in the Deep South. Everyone wants answers. No one is getting them. The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the local district attorney – the two bodies in charge of the case – have issued neither a ruling nor many pertinent details.

Tony Lawrence, the district attorney running the state’s investigation, met with the family Dec. 19 and urged patience.

“I have said from the beginning that this investigation will be exhaustive and not based on any timeline other than that which leads to the truth,” Lawrence said at the time. His office declined further comment this week.

With no answers and a state investigation that is dragging on, the region has descended into a cauldron of speculation, suspicion and conspiracy. Theories are easy to find, the truth all but impossible.

Johnson fixates on the truck that is stained with what is left of his son. The day after the incident, police returned it to the family as is. Rather than wash it, junk it or sell it, Johnson keeps it in a garage, driving it out to re-examine. He stares at it. He imagines his son.

He’s convinced someone forced Billey Joe on his knees, shoved the shotgun barrel in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

“They must’ve tortured my baby,” Johnson says.

---

Here is what the police say about Billey Joe’s death: During a routine traffic stop, Billey Joe Johnson Jr. shot himself in the head.

Billey Joe’s truck had notes from multiple female admirers, and his friends said he enjoyed the attention offered to a star athlete. He’d already run for 4,000 yards in his high school career and helped make George County a state powerhouse. Everyone knew him. Many wanted to be with him.

One girl, whom Yahoo! Sports will not name since she is a minor, had been around the longest. It was a typical high school relationship – “they’d break up every day and then get back together,” said one of his friends, Drew Bradley. The fact that she was white bothered some people.

“It’s George County, it’s a little Southern town,” said Bradley, who is white. “You’ve got a bunch of racist people down here. You have people who hated on them because it was black and white.”

Timeline

The alleged timeline of events on Monday, Dec. 8, 2008, leading up to the death of Billey Joe Johnson:

4:30 a.m. – Billey Joe Johnson Sr. hears his son showering and preparing to leave the family’s Benndale, Miss. residence. He believes his son plans to go hunting before heading to school.

5:34 a.m. – George County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Sullivan witnesses Billey Joe Johnson’s maroon Chevy Silverado run a red light at the corner of Church Street and Winter Street. He pursues the truck with his blue lights flashing and witnesses the truck running a stop sign at the 4-way stop of Winter Street and Old Highway 63.

5:37 a.m. – The Lucedale Police Department receives a 911 call from Esther Parker, who says her daughter called her and informed her that someone was attempting to break into a trailer where her daughter and ex-husband were living. Parker informs the LPD that her daughter is home alone.

5:39 a.m. – After a pursuit of nearly 1½ miles, Sheriff’s Deputy Sullivan witnesses the truck pulling into a service entrance near Benndale Carpet. Billey Joe Johnson exits the truck and informs Deputy Sullivan that he was on the way home “because his mother was sick”. Deputy Sullivan takes his license and instructs Johnson to return to his vehicle.

5:40 a.m. – While attempting to call in the license number, Deputy Sullivan informs dispatch that Johnson has shot himself and requests assistance.

5:40 a.m. – LPD Sgt. James O’Neal arrives at the trailer and secures the perimeter. He makes contact with Parker’s daughter, who informs him that the person who attempted to enter the residence was Billey Joe Johnson Jr. She says Johnson left before police arrived, but that she would like to go to the police station and “sign charges” against him.

5:48 a.m. – LPD Sgt. O’Neal departs for the police department, following Parker and her daughter in a separate vehicle. While in transit, he is informed by dispatch that Johnson had shot himself at service road near Benndale Carpet.

5:50 a.m. – LPD Sgt. O’Neal arrives at Benndale Carpet, where he observes the vehicle of deputy Sullivan as well as Johnson’s maroon Silverado, which is parked with the door open. As he pulls forward to make room for the pending arrival of an ambulance, O’Neal observes Johnson lying on his back on the ground, with his head pointed away from the open door of vehicle. Sgt. O’Neal observes a shotgun on top of Johnson’s body, and blood on the ground around his head.

5:55 a.m. – Paramedics arrive on scene. Dispatch is informed that Johnson is DOA.

More HERE

UPDATE: Get this, A grand jury has ruled that his death was accidental. Many in the black community, including this AAPP still suspect foul play. What do you think?

AAP: That was then, thisis now: FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, Family members rallied hoping to encourage witnesses to come forward with evidence and testimony.  Billey Joe Johnson, Jr. was the highly recruited football star from Benndale, MS who was mysteriously killed during a traffic stop with a George County Sheriff’s deputy on December 8, 2008.  Even after independent investigations raised serious questions about the plausibility of Johnson’s wounds being self-inflicted, the local justice system ruled this incident an accident and charges have yet to be brought. READ MORE HERE

Community members are renewing their efforts because Johnson’s death and subsequent investigations leave more questions than answers.  Given the long history of corruption and cover-ups in George County law enforcement, many community members feel law enforcement and the District Attorney’s office colluded to execute a wide spread cover-up.  Community members also point to what they call a pattern of racial profiling and the use of fear and intimidation on behalf of law enforcement.  “Law enforcement’s investigation left a lot of holes and many of us believe there was foul play.  Because of the amount of discrimination we experience every day, we have little faith in the local justice system,” said Mr. Bobby Perryman of Immaculate Heart Community Development Corporation.

Johnson’s family calls on the Lucedale community to come forward with information about the case and believe many have stayed quiet for fear of retribution or being shunned by friends and family members.  “Nobody wants to tell on their neighbor, but the fact is that a young man was killed and his family and this community need closure,” said Pastor Garrett of Prince Garrett Ministries.  George County is a very small community and is still very segregated.  A few large families and their extended networks own most of the businesses and play influential roles in city and county government.  George County, where the incident occurred, is 89% white with very few Black residents. “We know there are good folks in George County who have knowledge about the incident.  We know you are afraid but we need you to come forward.  Black or white - none of us are free when there is a suspicion of murder,” Garrett added. 

“We are tired of the corruption, the cover-ups and the abuse we suffer at the hands of police,” said Ms. Lucy Wilson, President of the Human Rights Taskforce of George County.  The Human Rights Taskforce is one of key local organizations calling for the event.  It was established as a result of the travesty of justice felt by many around the Johnson case as well as growing tensions between the Black community and law enforcement.  The event is co- sponsored by George County Human Rights Taskforce, Immaculate Heart Community Development Corporation, George County NAACP, and American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi.

Caravans of concerned citizens traveled from Atlanta, Jackson, Mobile and New Orleans.  Speakers at the event include Ms. Nsombi Lambright, Executive Director of the ACLU-MS, Ms. Lucy Wilson, President of the George County Human Rights Taskforce and a spokesperson for Billey Joe Johnson, Jr.’s family.

AAP says: I'm glad the family is taking a stand. Don't you think it's time America did? It's time for the Justice Department to get involved. That's my thought. Write the U.S. Attorney General and President Barack Obama, and let them both know how you feel.

NAACP, Ben Jealous, Lumumba snookering and pimping the Scott sisters.

I want to discuss with you two old negro Civil Rights groups that have lost their way. First SCLC. They are becoming more and more irrelevant.  We need to hold them accountable!


As reported by wctv.tv for more than a year, the daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has declined to serve as president in a group her father co-founded.
Now Reverend Bernice King doesn't want the job at all.


Reverend King says she's decided to abandon the Southern Christian Leadership Conference because the once proud organization has struggled to stay relevant.


 


She says the group has split in two different directions and had its finances scrutinized. The former chairman was also indicted on theft charges last week. .

The former national chairman of an Atlanta-based civil rights organization was indicted Wednesday in Ohio on 51 charges that include grand theft, forgery and tampering with government records.

 

The Rev. Raleigh Trammell, 73, was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury in Dayton, where he lives and also headed a local chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Trammell was indicted on one count of grand theft and 25 counts each of forgery and tampering with government records. Read more HERE  Also read more about this story at the Washington Post

Martin Luther King, III says, "I think she was in an awkward position and she prays a whole lot, so I think as a result she was led to no longer want to accept the position."


The SCLC led the movement to end segregation in public facilities and earned more rights for million of black Americans today. More HERE

Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader Rev. Raleigh Trammell is escorted from the SCLC, Dayton, Ohio chapter office by an FBI agent Thursday, Feb. 11, 2009. (AP Photo/Dayton Daily News, Jan Underwood) AAP says: The SCLC is no longer relevant just like NAACP national office is no longer relevant. Speaking of the NAACP here is an interesting UPDATE: Word on the street is the NAACP is preparing to pimp the the Scott sisters. There is also word on the street that the national office of the NAACP may be creating conflict between the Scott sisters and the Scott sisters family. The blogosphere and blog talk raio is a buzz with Scott Sisters family members talking about the national office of the NAACP and Attorney Chokwe Lumumba are causing friction and conflict within the family. The Root's E.R. Shipp may just be right when in rights in The Root about how black folks get scorched by the spotlight of instant fame. In the article he talks about how Ted "Golden Voice" Williams isn't the only person to have his 15 minutes of fame before crashing to earth. Remember the subway hero? And what will come of the Scott sisters?

It's a must read article.  Here is a bit of what is said: "I think of Wesley Autry, who threw himself atop a man who had fallen onto a New York City subway track and saved him. He was honored by President George W. Bush at the 2007 State of the Union address and by other politicians in New York. Donald Trump gave him $10,000; he was given a Jeep and sports tickets. He was all over national television. And on and on.

But months later, when he still hoping for lucrative movie and book deals, he was passing out business cards identifying himself as "Wesley Autry Sr. -- Subway Hero." Terrie Williams says she saw him at one event carrying around some of his awards and "pulled his coat" to tell him that was not a good thing. He and an early team of managers ended up in conflict over their insistence on taking 50 percent of any income that Autry earned from the subway incident, but eventually settled out of court.
When it comes to prisoners -- from men and women freed as a result of DNA evidence brought to light through the efforts of the Innocence Project to the Scott sisters released from a Mississippi prison earlier this month after 16 years for a robbery that may have netted $11 -- there is often a rush of publicity and invitations to tell their stories. Then everything is expected to be normal.
The Scott sisters' story became international in part because of outrage that a condition of their release was that one donate a kidney to the other. They have relocated to Florida, where they have family, but the Mississippi NAACP is more or less continuing to advocate for them, according to Derrick Johnson, the state conference president. It will convene a meeting in coming days to coordinate their medical and transportation needs and to identify a facility to perform tests to determine if Gladys Scott is a match for her sister, Jamie."  More HERE
AAP says: As I said earlier, word on the street is the national office of the NAACP is creating a bunch of mess with the Scott Sisters and their family. NAACP President Ben Jealous The NAACP and Atty Chokwe Lumumba are talking it up with the Scott sisters, telling them that they too can get lucrative movie and book deals. the only problem is, the real heroes are the mother, Nancy Lockhart, black bloggers, blogtalkradio, black radio, blacktalkradio, and other activist.  Yes, the NAACP will have the Scott sisters on the NAACP Image Awards, and probably won't ask the mother or Nancy Lockhart to attend. AAP says: lets remember folks, this is "Ben Jealous, he is the same guy who issued a statement decrying  shirley Sherrod's so-called  abhorrent statements she made during an address to members of the NAACP at a banquet, about denying a white farmer as much help as she could because of the color of his skin. Then to cover his self he said the NAACP was “snookered” into condemning former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod.  Now Ben jealous and Chokwe Lumumba are snookering the Scott Sisters." Unfortunately the national office of the NAACP and Atty Chokwe Lumumba are now selling the Scott sisters another Jena 6 dream, now the question is whether the Scott sisters will be passing out business cards identifying themselves as "the Scott Sisters. -- former prisoners of the Mississippi prisons, new prisoners of Chokwe Lumumba and the NAACP." Listen and join in the conversation on my blog talk radio show. We will discuss how the NAACP and Chokwe Lumumba are snookering and pimping the Scott sisters. Tonight on Blog Talk Radio. "If you can handle the truth."  Let's hold them accountable!

The Scott Sisters, Nancy Lockhart and the Politics of Freedom

Newspapers, national radio programs, bloggers and politicos are all talking about how Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Dec. 29 suspended the life sentences of two sisters jailed for an armed robbery that netted just $11—but the release of one sister will require her to donate a kidney to the other. As reported in The Afro American Newspaper today,  Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour on Dec. 29 suspended the life sentences, saying:

“To date, the sisters have served 16 years of their sentences and are eligible for parole in 2014. Jamie Scott requires regular dialysis, and her sister has offered to donate one of her kidneys to her,” Barbour said in a prepared statement, according to The Hattiesburg American. “The Mississippi Department of Corrections believes the sisters no longer pose a threat to society. Their incarceration is no longer necessary for public safety or rehabilitation, and Jamie Scott’s medical condition creates a substantial cost to the State of Mississippi.”

Jamie (left) and Gladys Scott were convicted of robbery in 1993 and given double life sentences. (Courtesy Photo)

According to The American, in 1993 the sisters lured two men down a road where they were robbed by three teens. The Scott sisters were convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon in the incident and each received reportedly unusual double life prison sentences. The teenagers who allegedly carried out the robbery only served two years in prison.

Barbour’s statement said that he asked the Mississippi Parole Board to review the Scott’s case, and that they supported his decision to suspend their sentences. 

According to the Associated Press, the sisters have received support from national groups including the NAACP. A march for them earlier this year drew hundreds of people. 

A release date for the sisters has not been decided, and will be set by the Mississippi Department of Corrections, according to Jackson, Miss. NBC affiliate WLBT.

AAP says: But with all the grandstanding that is about to happen, groups like the national office of the NAACP, Al Sharpton and the rest of the slick poverty pimp hustlers need to move over, and salute one of the key people that fought the up hill battle to get these women free. A true black woman freedom fighter who deserves accolades and support from America and America's African American community, Ms. Nancy Lockhart, who for years, through the strategic use of the Internet, and her Free the Scott Sisters Blog, along with Internet BlogTalkRadio shows began a grassroots effort to free the Scott sisters. Without Nancy Lockhart who has proven to be a modern day,  21st Century,  Harriet Tubman like, African American women working on the outside, the Scott sisters may not be looking at Freedom. Of course we have to include the recent color aroused political blunders by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, as the emphasis for the his true interest in reducing the life sentences of two black American sisters jailed for an armed robbery that netted just $11. 

Ms. Nancy Lockhart, who has worked closely with grass root groups and individuals like Jerry Robinson, a sharp mouthed grass root community organizer, political activist, and national President of the Chicago based Poor People's Campaign has worked with Nancy Lockhart in her efforts to engage grass-root Internet activist, bloggers, and community groups from across the nation to support the Scott Sisters  quest for freedom. Let the truth be told, it was not the national NAACP that lead the effort to free the Scott Sisters, it was Nancy Lockhart through her use of grassroots Internet organizing, with the support of people like Jerry Robinson of the Poor People's Campaign, Black left Internet groups like the afrospear, Black Agenda Report, and black bloggers like Electronic Village, Jack and Jill Politics, Francis L. Holland Blog, along with many dozens of Internet blogtalkradio host, such as Black Achievement USA, Black Talk Radio, JWriter, Justice4Us, Duchess of Wisdom, AANation, PPC, Kala Nation, Joli Ali, BostonAnt, Pumpkin13, Madison Media,  Antoinette former co-host of African American Pundit's SlugFest Program, along with Antionette Harrell, One Black Mans View, Scotty, and so many others, who were able to create a band of national Internet activist who worked with Nancy Lockhart to get the word out to the larger blogosphere, afrosphere, black radio and national media,  that caused the Scott Sisters to be of interest to groups like the NAACP and because of recent color aroused political blunders by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, caused him to look at the Scott Sisters case as a political opportunity to make himself look good, as part of his potential Presidential ambitions. As noted in The Washington Post, Barbour, who is weighing a run for president, announced the pardon a week after he ran afoul of civil rights advocates. Last week, Barbour backtracked on comments he made about the civil rights era in Mississippi. More HERE

AAP says: All that being said, America, particularly Black America should salute and thank Nancy Lockhart for a job well done! She has taught us a new lesson for the 21st Century, "grassroot Internet organizing can work for America, particularly black America,  if we put your mind, heart and soul into it." 

Cross posted on MYDD